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By the Numbers: Furious action at the end at Talladega

4 -- Joey Logano has finished first or second in four of the past six Nationwide Series races on restrictor-plate tracks, including back-to-back runner-up finishes at Talladega. Logano has a 2.3 average finish in three 'Dega races (best of any driver with more than one start); he finished third in his first race there in 2009.

14.5 -- Joey Logano leads all active Sprint Cup Series drivers with a 14.5 average finish in six races at Talladega. He has four top-10s, including a 10th-place finish last spring.

NATIONWIDE SERIES

Breakout Number

23 -- Trevor Bayne led the most laps at Talladega last season with 23, the fewest laps led by the driver leading the most laps in track history. Other records set in that race: 56 lead changes, a series mark ('Dega held the previous high with 36 in April 2007); 11 caution flags, a track high; and two attempts at a green-white-checkered finish, a series first (the race went an extra seven laps, with four diffferent leaders during that stretch: Joe Nemechek, Mike Wallace, Bayne and finally, Kyle Busch.

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Track Tidbits

1 -- The driver leading the most laps has won only one of the past five races at Talladega -- 81 by Tony Stewart in April 2008. In the other four races, the winner led 11 laps or less. In those same races, the longest stretch of laps led by the winner was three laps.

17 -- Joe Nemechek has made 17 starts at Talladega, most in series history. That has allowed him to amass the most poles (5), top-fives (7), top-10s (8), laps led (201) and lead-lap finishes (11) at the track, as well. Nemechek has two wins at 'Dega, including the first race there won from the pole (April 1998); he also holds the distinction of having the worst starting position of any winner (35th in April 2000). Finally, Nemechek has the track qualifying record of 193.517 mph (49.595 seconds) set in April 1997.

28 -- There have been 28 or more lead changes seven times at Talladega; five have come in the past six races.

Recent Trends

3 -- The past three races at Talladega have ended with a last-lap pass; each also ended in a green-white-checkered finish. Furthermore, the final green-flag stretch has been three laps or less in the past nine races at Talladega.

3 -- Points leader Elliott Sadler has finished in the top 10 in the past three series races on restrictor-plate tracks, the longest current streak. Included is a fifth-place finish at Talladega in 2011, making him only one of two drivers in the top eight in points who has a top-10 at the track: Justin Allgaier (seventh in points) finished seventh last year. Sadler and three drivers who have never competed at 'Dega -- 3. Austin Dillon, 6. Cole Whitt, 8. Tayler Malsam -- are the only drivers in the top eight who posted a top-10 finish in the season opener at Daytona.

12 -- Five of the past six Nationwide Series races at Talladega have been won from a starting position of 12th or worse, including three from 22nd or worse. Sixty percent of the races at 'Dega (12 of 20) have been won from starting positions outside the top 10, the largest percentage among active tracks.

SPRINT CUP SERIES

Breakout Number

20 -- Twenty races at Talladega have been decided by a last-lap pass (second only to Daytona's 23), including nine of the past 13 and the past four. Clint Bowyer, Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt and Cale Yarborough have the most last-lap wins, with two each. Three drivers were passed twice each: Earnhardt, Darrell Waltrip and Buddy Baker. Seven drivers have both won and lost on a last-lap pass: Johnson, Earnhardt, Waltrip, Kevin Harvick, Jeff Gordon, Brian Vickers and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

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Track Tidbits

.002 -- Five of the past six races at Talladega have had a margin of victory of less than one-tenth of a second, including the .002 MOV last spring, tied with Darlington (2003) as the closest since the inception of electronic scoring in 1993. The 'Dega MOV has been less than four-tenths of a second in the 30 races since (not including the seven that ended under caution).

6 -- There have been six green-white-checkered finishes at Talladega, ranking second behind only Daytona (nine) for the most at a track. The April 2010 race at 'Dega is the only race in series history to have three attempts at a G-W-C finish; it went an extra 12 laps (32 miles).

20 -- There have been 20 or more different leaders in each of the past 13 races at Talladega. It is the only track with races (eight) that have had 25 or more leaders. Two-car tandem racing led to 26 leaders in each of the past three races, and a series-record 29 in April 2010.

Recent Trends

3 -- Richard Childress Racing has won three of the past four races at Talladega and leads all teams with 12 wins (nine by Dale Earnhardt, who had 10 total; his first came in 1983 in the No. 15 Ford of Bud Moore). Only one current RCR driver has won at 'Dega: Kevin Harvick in April 2010. Clint Bowyer, now with Michael Waltrip Racing, has won the past two fall races.

4 -- Kurt Busch has finished a track-best third four times in 22 races at Talladega, most recently in April 2007. Busch has the most restrictor-plate race top-fives (17), top-10s (25) and laps led (372) of all drivers who have never won a restrictor-plate race. He has finished in the 30s in four of the past eight races at 'Dega, including three DNFs (crash).

7 -- Jimmie Johnson has seven DNFs (four crash, three engine) in 20 races at Talladega, three more than any other track. However, he has only two DNFs (both crashes) in the past 10 races and in the past 12 starts has two wins (including last spring), two runners-up and three other top-10s.

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